Pressing before or after fermentation?

[gilan]

Hello friends. I have some fully cured homegrown Virginias and Orientals that are ready for fermentation. I want to press some of it into cakes, should I do before or after fermentation?

 

[Juxtaposer-]

What do you mean by fermentation?

 

[gilan]

What do you mean by fermentation?

Letting the leaves sit in jar after they turn brown.

 

[TigerTom]

McClelland used to age their Virginias in cakes. It stands to reason you could do something similar. The only caveat is to make sure it's not too moist or the cake will mold.

 

[Juxtaposer-]

Letting the leaves sit in jar after they turn brown.

Then yes press them! If you use a noodle press the plug will fit perfectly into the 8 oz jars. Or with larger jars, stuff folded layers of de-stemmed leaf halves and press them in manually as much as possible leaving as little air as possible.